Is India safe for women?

Background :-

New laws and directives are being proposed every other day, phone applications for safety are being launched densely, police protection on streets are being levied, all for strengthening the security of women in the country. In spite of so many measures being taken, the question of a woman’s safety still persists.

Yes :-

An increase in the count of female citizens has been noticeable in the past 5 decades. According to the Population Census of 2011, the sex ratio between male and female in India has been 940 females per 1000 of males whereas, Census 2001 says the ratio to be 933 females to that of 1000 of males. This increase in ratios remarkably shows that there has been an armor of safety for women.

Evil historic practices on women in the pre and post medieval period have been into oblivion. Practices like child marriages, polygamy, ban on remarriages, honor killings, Sati, Jauhar and Purdah are obsolete in today’s world. With time, more such practices are being redundant and thus, increasing safety measures.

Women of our country have been and are achieving the epitomes of success and glory every other day. Prominent personalities like Savitribai Phule, Mother Teresa, Sarla Thakral, Kalpana Chawla, Sister Nivedita, Sarojini Naidu, and many more have been conquering their respective fields for centuries. In recent times, Prativa Patil, Meira Kumar, Priyanka N., Mitali Madhumita, Tanushree Pareek are some of the women achievers to be the queens. With such accomplishments happening around, safety can be guaranteed to a big extent.

Providing equal grounds on most of the sectors of the society has raised the bar of equality between men and women, increased opportunities for women and their security too.

Safety comes in with education. The higher the literacy rates, the safer the country is. The literacy rate of female is 53.7% according to Census 2001 and is quite appreciable than before. States like Kerela and Mizoram has already achieved universal female literacy.

Media too plays a big role in the act of safety and security of women. The influence of media and television creates an impact on the entire humanity to act against the wrong doings. The Delhi gang rape case can be a prominent example which brought in the spark and raised concerns within people about safety and security of women on a large scale.

No :-

The National Crime Records Bureau states that happenings of crimes against women have risen from 273 per day in 2001 to 313 per day in 2015. This is not a good sign in terms of safety in India.

Rape cases and sexual assaults are still on the headlines of every news channel and papers. Crimes like abduction, dowry deaths, kidnapping rapes, trafficking, forceful prostitutions, sex-selective abortions, female infanticide and sexual harassments still persists.

The rural area constitutes a huge portion of India, and here, women safety is at high stake. Different factors like lack of proper education, unavailability of sanitary facilities, lesser security, unemployment etc. contribute to the increasing danger of the lives of the female race.

Conclusion :-

Safety of people consisting half of the population of the country must be on the top of the priority list of the government. Blaming the government alone for the crimes occurring against women will not be fair. People in general, has to get this straight and clear that it is not okay to harass or disrespect a woman and doing that is an offensive crime.